Criticism is mounting over the tactical absence of South Korea national football team head coach Hong Myung-bo. From football experts, including members of the 2002 World Cup semifinal squad, to ordinary fans, voices are rising to question, "Does he even have a tactical plan?" Yet Hong himself offered a hollow analysis of the team's worst performance in the match against South Africa, saying, "It is true that we are also baffled as to why this happened."
At a press conference summarizing the three group-stage matches, held Thursday (Korea time) at the Chivas Verde Valle training ground in Zapopan near Guadalajara, Mexico, Hong said, "It is not easy to find the reason why we played such a difficult match." He added, "I think the environmental aspects may have caused the difficulties." The remarks amount to an admission that he failed to perform properly as manager after conceding a second-half goal in the historically poor match against South Africa.
Hong signaled that he would not make major changes to his existing tactics even if the team advances to the round of 32. "I don't think it is a good idea to suddenly change what we have been doing all along like this," he said. "Once the opponent is decided, I plan to consider the overall picture." He added, "We may be able to do a few points somewhat differently."
Football fans are leveling sharp criticism at Hong's tactics. On online football forums, posts demanding his resignation are being put up without end. While the players' poor play is also a problem, much of the criticism targets Hong's "tactical absence," his failure to respond appropriately to the situation.
Football experts feel the same way. Shin Moon-sun, a professor at Myongji University's Graduate School of Records, Information and Science, appeared on a radio program and pointed out, "The whole world knows the tactical loopholes in Korea's three-back system." He added, "South Africa coach Hugo Broos revealed in the pre-match press conference exactly how he would deal with the Korean team." Ahn Jung-hwan, a member of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup semifinal legend, also cited Hong's tactical absence as the reason for the loss against South Africa. In a newspaper column, he sharply criticized, "Has there ever been such a frustrating match at a World Cup? It was dismal," adding, "I couldn't feel any tactics at all."
